UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

According to security manual only DNS, files, or LDAP should be allowed in nsswitch file however it seems like i have many other services configured in nsswitch files.

below are the content from nsswitch file.
What services can be removed considering the system stability.

Code:

passwd:     files
shadow:     files
group:      files
hosts:      files dns
bootparams: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
ethers:     files
netmasks:   files
networks:   files
protocols:  files
rpc:        files
services:   files
netgroup:   nisplus
publickey:  nisplus
automount:  files nisplus
aliases:    files nisplus

We are using dns server instead of NIS should we follow what the following link says.

http://www.faqs.org/docs/securing/chap6sec71.html

Only you can answer, we dont know what you use... Looks like you are on a solaris, do you use NIS?
Its not because you use DNS that you dont use NIS...

We have a separate DNS server but I never heard of NIS being deployed in our setup.

As this "server hardening" process has been going on for some time.

Do you have NIS?


If you cannot answer this question, have you considered attending a unix comms course? The quick ones only last a week.

Security is an Ongoing Process You'll never be able to say: “OK, we're done,
As i said before we are not using Any NIS .
We have a separate DNS server which is a window server.

What commands did you type on your server to determine whether you have NIS and what was the response?

If no NIS-dependent services are running on your server any default configuration referring to NIS can be removed as a precaution against encountering a rogue NIS server.

Being a newbie i dont know the commands to check if NIS is running or not .Can you please tell few?